


You're Not The Only Professional Party-Crasher In Town

by RiverOfFandoms



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, The Maze Runner - Freeform, short series, the maze runner mini fanfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2015-08-14
Packaged: 2018-04-08 23:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4324329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiverOfFandoms/pseuds/RiverOfFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You (Reader) suddenly find yourself crashing a party all alone, without your usual companion Thomas. There you meet a motorbike riding, nameless, mysterious British blondie who manages to throw you into a whole heap of complications and adventures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Boy

Of course you’ve crashed teenage parties before, but this time it’s different. Not only because you’re just going for a bit of a snoop instead of planning full on pranks to trick the drunk, but because your wise and most trusted companion isn’t here to laugh with you.

  
Yes, that’s right, Thomas got invited out with a girl, it’s like he actually has a life. You squirm closer to the side of the train-seat as another man decides to squeeze himself in the middle, pressing himself against you. You scowl at the man and try your best to not feel violated. That’s another thing that will be different about tonight, you won’t have your usual get-away car that belongs to Thomas. Yes, that’s also right, you do not own a car. You use your mother’s car but of course you’re not stupid enough to use it for this and besides, you’re only allowed it on weekends, Friday not counted, since she’s at work practically all night every night.

  
The only thing you know about this party is that it’s an Eastbay party, which means it will be in the poshest area of the East-side and there will probably be some top-notch alcohol too. The only problem is that to go to one of these Eastbay parties is to be invited, however, you’re a party-crasher and everyone knows party-crashers do not need an invite. Besides, everyone’ll be pretty drunk by now as it’s almost eleven at night.

  
As soon as the train rattles to a stop, you immediately exit the carriage and vow to never ever use public transport ever again. Every time that man’s face comes into vision you shudder and hope your future self makes better decisions next time. A breeze blows on the back of your neck so you tug up your black hood, of course you’re not dressed appropriately and if this wasn’t an alcoholic filled party then you would surely stick out but with everyone intoxicated, it doesn’t matter. No one will care about your choice of jeans or jumper, they’re all going to be falling on their faces or asses; maybe in their own vomit if you’re lucky.

  
You hear the music before you spot the house, and you’re right, this is a very fancy house probably belonging to a very fancy person whose fancy parents are out of town for the weekend. You slide along the wet-slicked grass and head for the side of the house. They won’t notice your arrival if you go in through the front door like every other ordinary person but it’s more thrilling to enter through a window. You climb up the side of the house with the help of a conveniently placed pipe with metal bits sticking into the walls. Your steps are small and relatively light but you’re not worried, you’ve done this thousands of times before.

  
You reach the top and sneak in a glance, thankfully no one is in. You remember back to a time when there was no other choice but to enter through a window where a couple were hooking up, quite radically too. They squealed and shouted but most of all, they were naked and laughing hysterically. Luckily they were intoxicated with alcohol and possibly high on weed. After prying the window open, you push it up and roll in, landing softly on the floor. You stay in a crouch for the moment as a double-check and then you slowly rise to your feet and choke back a gasp as you come face-to-face with a blonde-headed and brown-eyed boy that gives you quite the suspicious glare. “Can I help you?”

You blink, frozen in fear, “You’re not drunk.”

“Thanks for the observation.”

You walk up to the boy who stands in the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest. You glance over his shoulder and see people walking by, or more like stumbling by. “I was just leaving.” You try to step past him but he blocks the entryway.

“You came in through the window.”

“I needed some fresh air.”

“There’s no balcony.”

“I have really good balance.”

“You’re dressed like a burglar.” An eyebrow raises and you know you’re utterly and completely busted. If only Thomas was here, he’s good at sweet-talking, at least better than you.

“Look,” You give him an innocent smile, “If you don’t tell the owner of this house that I was here, then I’ll just be on my way; okay?”

He smiles back, “I am the owner.”

“Fu-

“Hey man!” Someone shouts from behind the boy, slapping an arm around his shoulders. The boy looks back at him, kind of disgusted. “Chatting up a chick, I see? I’m up for-

“Move along buddy, I think you’ve had a bit too much.” The boy glares down at the other boy who tries to keep the conversation going by shoving his phone into boy-number-one’s face.

You back up from the both of them and silently but slowly make your way back to the window. With him distracted, you could probably escape and never show your face here again. You’ll just have to make up a lie or something when Thomas asks if you went out party-crashing, there’s no way you’d let him know about your absolute failure.  
Suddenly, the boy turns around, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Your eyes dart around nervously before saying, “Just out for some fresh air?”

The boy smirks, “I don’t think so.”

Before you know it, he’s standing directly in front of you, something quite like amusement in his eyes. You glare up at him.  
“Police!” Someone from downstairs shrieks and you go wide-eyed, so does the boy.

The boy turns to the window and pushes it up, “On second thought’s…”

You push beside him and shimmy yourself through the gap and then cling onto the pole, adjusting your footing. “See you round?” You say smugly and then proceed to descend to the ground. Once you make it, you’re bombarded by teenagers from every direction. Like a sea of panic. Terror on each and everyone’s faces. You push through the sea until you come to a side street but soon you see the familiar blue and red lights flash over the road and you back up a bit.

  
Down the main street, you see someone hopping onto a motorbike. You pull your hood up again, as it had fallen down back onto your shoulders through all the commotion, and jump onto the back of the bike screaming, “Go, go, go!”

  
The person on the bike doesn’t even think to look behind, instead they rev up the engine and speed off down the street, turning around numerous corners so the police cannot follow you both. You don’t tell the driver where to go, instead you let them drive until they stop, and then you’ll just have to figure it out from there. As you zoom past through another street, you come out of the end into a blazing-lit city. You must be in East City with all the nightclubs and skyscrapers in your view. As you are driven down the glistening road, you take in your surroundings and it’s almost breath-taking at how pretty all the lights can be at night and how excitedly-weird the atmosphere turned.

  
You look in awe until your driver turns down an alleyway and then down a few more until they come out onto another street and stop in front of what looks like an apartment building. You hop off the back and the driver takes their motorbike into an obviously rented shed. The driver comes out with their helmet off and you see the familiar strands of blonde from the boy who threw the party.

  
“Are you serious?” You say, “Out of all the people there? And besides, why aren’t you taking responsibility for your under-age alcohol party? Why are you here? If you own your own apartment then why not throw one here? Or rent out a place since you seem to have the money for it!” You’re not letting yourself get dragged back to the boy’s place to be questioned as to why you went to the party in the first place, you’re not going to allow yourself to be caught.

“Chill, that wasn’t my party, love. I was joking around with you.” Amusement sparks within his eyes and you immediately feel embarrassed. Embarrassed that you yelled and embarrassed that you fell for it.

“Oh… right.”

“Wanna come in for a drink? You can tell me all about why you were using Blake’s party to enter into his house and presumably… I don’t know… steal his stuff?”

“I wasn’t going to steal anything… there’s more to it.” You keep your voice quiet instead of yelling again.

“Then come in and tell me.”

“It’s really not that interesting.” You tug at the ends of your sleeves as you feel a chill, “I should probably go home.”

“Do you have a ride?”

You look at the screen of your phone and consider asking Thomas since he’s in the city “I’ll just text my trusty-companion…”  
**You:** Is it possible if you can pick me up? I’m at 42 Caroline Avenue  
**Thomas:** You’re in the city?  
**Thomas:** I’ll be there in 30 mins

“I can take you.”

You shake your head, “You don’t need to do that: Thomas said he’ll come in thirty minutes.” You slip your phone back into your hoodie pocket, “But I have time for one drink, possibly two.”

The boy smiles at you and leads you up to his apartment. Inside the block, you see it’s not quite as posh-looking as you thought it’d be. After riding up the elevator, you come to a stop on the right floor. He leads you to a door marked 26 and you enter. Inside is filled with basic furniture but a whole lot of posters of bands, there are musical instruments hung on walls and propped up in corners, you even think you spot some kind of sport jerseys. “I’m guessing you like music.”

The boy laughs, “Yeah, I’m in a band.”

“Of course you are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The boy raises an eyebrow, really showing off his sassy side. He didn’t seem like the one to sass you off when you first met him, he must have learnt it from someone else.

You smile, “Of course the cool, mysterious guy I meet at a party is in a band.”

“You think I’m cool?” He smirks.

“Yeah, yeah, slim it.” You take a seat on one of his couches and ask, “That drink would be nice around about now.”

The boy only laughs and chucks you a can of coke from his mini-fridge, “Now tell me, mysterious girl I met at a party who is not in a band, why were you sneaking into Blake’s room?”

You sigh and quickly swallow a mouthful of the fizzing coke before saying, “I’m a professional party-crasher.”

“Not very professional if you get caught.”

You jump to your defense, “This is the first time I’ve tried to crash a party without my companion, and besides, how was I supposed to know there’d actually be someone sober there?” You slurp up another mouthful of bubbles, “Also, I’d like to see you do better.”

“You just did.”

“Excuse me?” You frown in confusion, what’s this guy up to?  
The boy leans in closer, his heavy British accent ringing clearly, “You’re not the only professional party-crasher in this town.”

“Excuse me?” You repeat, utterly bewildered. Did you hear this guy correctly? He can’t be… But then again, it’d make sense. A speedy motorbike as a getaway ride, his soberness and the police… “Wait a second,” you blink in surprise, “you called the police?”

The boy sits back comfortably in his chair, “Yes, yes I did.”

You cross your arms over your chest and glare at him, “I can’t believe you! You almost got me caught!”

“But you weren’t caught, and besides, professional party-crashers never get caught.”

You roll your eyes and lean back into the couch, you always thought it was just you and Thomas finding the joys out of teasing and tricking people when they were drunk, but you guess you were wrong.

“So how come your trusty companion wasn’t around tonight?”

Your eyes flick up to his, “He’s out with a girl.”

The boy smirks, “I can see a hint of jealousy in your eye.”

You shake your head, “No I just… He’s really interested in this girl and I think he’s serious about it, he’s never going to have time for me anymore. He’ll probably start to say how stupid party-crashing is and things will never be the same again.”

The boy’s look softens, as if he understands. “I used to have this friend… and also this other friend. We were called the Golden Trio. But stuff happened and we all had to go to different high schools, we don’t talk much anymore. We drifted…” You catch a glimpse of sadness in his eyes as he remembers memories of the three of them. “If you ever need a party-crashing companion, call me.” He chucks his mobile to you and you enter his digits into your phone, and then yours in his.

“Thanks; will do.” You smile warmly at him and then a text pings onto your screen.

**Thomas:** I’m here, where r u?  
**You:** Be down in a sec.  
You get up from the couch and nod a goodbye to the boy, and just before you leave you turn back to him and ask, “What’s your name?”

He smiles, “All in good time, love.”

You shake your head with an amused grin, “Alright shank.” You enter in a nickname for his profile on your mobile and exit the apartment, using the stairs instead of the elevator, you make your way down to the ground floor. You exit the building and find Thomas’ car pulled up just a few metres back. The blueness of the car glistens, wet with rain. Had it been raining? You hop in the back as you see a shadowy figure sitting in shotgun.

“Hi, sorry if I’ve interrupted something…”

Instead of Thomas, a girl’s voice replies, “No it’s alright, Thomas was just taking me home anyway.” She turns around in the seat as Thomas starts the engine and proceeds to drive down the street. You see her chocolate brown hair and crystal-blue eyes, Thomas picked a good one, you think. “It’s good to finally meet you, Thomas told me a lot about you; best friends since freshman year, huh?”

You smile and tug off your hood, “Yeah, since freshman year. And you must be Teresa, correct?”

She smiles, “So I have been talked about…” She glances over at Thomas who blushes while trying to focus on driving, “I hope we can hang out sometime.”

Your smile grows wider, “Of course.”

Just as she turns back around in her seat, a ping goes off on your mobile phone and you quickly glance down at the screen.

**The Boy:** I’ve set up an awesome plan for crashing a party tomorrow night, wanna come with?

“Who’s that?” Thomas asks, genuinely curious.

“Just some guy I met at a party.”

Thomas raises an eyebrow but doesn’t reply, instead he keeps on driving. You know what he’s thinking, either you got caught or you actually went to a party instead of crashing it. You’re not sure which one to tell when you get back home.

**You:** Definitely.


	2. The First Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your first party crash with Newt, plus some unexpected turns of events.

**The Boy:** still on for tonight?

A text pops up onto your mobile screen from The Boy, you’re glad he’s still eager to see you again. “Is that that boy you saw yesterday?” Thomas asks, leaning back in his chair. Teresa leans into his chest, she’d come over earlier along with Thomas. They’re cute and all but sometimes it just irritates you to the point that you start to feel depressed. You ignore his question and instead tap away on your phones keyboard.

**You:** of course!

“Y/N?”

You sigh and put the phone down and flick your eyes up to meet his, “What?” You didn’t really mean for it to come out as a snap, but it did. You see a flicker of hurt flash across his eyes and you’re immediately filled with guilt.

“I asked if you’re texting that boy from last night, because if you are then good, it’s good to see you go out sometimes.” That hurt more than it should have. Not because he basically just called you antisocial but because he seems rather happy about it, like he’s finally getting you off his back. He won’t have to feel guilty about leaving you behind when he goes on dates with Teresa or how many other girls he’s got up his sleeves.

“Mhmm.” You stuff the phone back into your pocket and leave the living room, giving the love birds some space. You run into your room and quickly get changed into something more appropriate for tonight. After putting up with being the third wheel while watching a movie for a while, you decide that you’ll just go over to his house instead.

“You’re leaving?” Thomas asks before you can sneak out the front door, you knew you should have taken the window; since you’re quite the expert now.

“Mhmm.” You open and then close the front door at your exit. You sigh again but instead it comes out as a groan, you forgot The Boy lives in an apartment! How will you get up there? You don’t want have to text him to let you inside… but then again, you could just ring the doorbell like how other guests do. But you are early, will he think you’re desperate and needy? You resist the urge to chuck your phone onto the ground, you know you can’t go back inside and wait a few more hours, that would be embarrassing and you can’t put up with those shuck-heads any longer. You dawdle around the front porch for a while as you think, and you soon come to the absolute conclusion.

**You:** Is it okay if I come over now? That friend I told you about is over with his girlfriend…

You press send but it’s like you’ve just given permission for your heart to have an attack, maybe Thomas was right. You do need to get out more.

_Ping!_

**The Boy:** Of course, you can tell me all about their disgusting lovey dovey relationship.

You roll your eyes and can’t help but laugh at his response.

**You:** Yeah I don’t think so. How about we talk about something vaguely interesting and intelligent?

**The Boy:** Hey, I am the one letting you inside my house

**You:** Food?

**The Boy:** Come and find out :)

You know that you swore to yourself that taking public transport was never going to happen again but… You ignore that slight promise and hop onto the train anyway. It’s not like you’re going to encounter the exact same guy again… right? And, you did take the train when it was almost midnight.

* * *

 

 

Oh how wrong you were. As soon as you sat down in the train it was like all the creeps and creepier creeps were attracted to you like a magnet. You were doomed from the beginning. And, might I add, not long after you exited the train, you were stalked all the way down to The Boy’s house by a fat gremlin whose gender you couldn’t quite decide on. “And so that’s why I took forever to get up here.” You say over dramatically as you pop another potato chip into your mouth. You crunch down hard and The Boy looks over at you with amusement.

“Quite the adventurous one you are, may I say.”

You shrug your shoulders and with a mouthful of chip you say, “What can I say, adventure is my middle name.”

“Or it could be Y/M/N?” You look at him, almost horrified. How on Earth did he figure out your middle name? Is he stalking you? Is this a grave mistake, coming here all by yourself? Is he going to chop you up into little pieces and stuff you inside the walls? Well, you think to yourself, at least if I don’t come home for a few days, Thomas will probably, hopefully, realise I’m gone and come a lookin’ this way. Or maybe he won’t, he might be too busy sucking face with Teresa. “Calm yourself, woman.” He pulls out his mobile device and on the screen you see a very familiar profile, “I found your blog.”

“Oh shit.”

“Oh shit indeed. I see you’re quite the writer?” You watch as he scrolls through your blog with curious eyes, staring perversely into your deep and meaningful blog.

“Who’s The Boy?”

“Fuck.”

He raises an eyebrow, your heart speeds up. “I mean, he’s an OC.”

“Own character huh? He sounds very familiar…”

“Oh you know, it’s one of those characters. Everyone has them. Especially teenage girls.”

“Uh huh.” He drops his phone to his side and looks over at you with a sort of smug smile plastered onto his face. “Want to see what we will be doing tonight?” Eager to get off the topic of your blog and horrible writing, you desperately agree and he brings you over to a blueprint. And I don’t mean just any blueprint, you’re definitely in store for some wild party-crashing tonight. The Boy shows you to a real life blue print of a house, assumedly, an Eastbay house. He explains each detail but you don’t even listen to the allocations of which prank goes in which room, heck, you don’t even memorise the rooms like you’re supposed to. Instead you just watch him talk, listen to his voice. How his eyes light up with excitement and how his lips move incredibly fast with each word and sound; how he use his hands to explain the details. “Got all of that, Padawan?”

You start to nod but instead you frown, “I am not your Padawan, and stop with the Star Wars references before it’s too late for you and your family.”

He chuckles, “Well then, it’s good thing I don’t have much of a family.” It’s one of those times when you can sort of feel your heart beating in your throat, when all that repeats through your mind is WARNING: TOUCHE TOPIC. When you hear it, you’re not sure how to react, or if to even react at all. How could you? What does he mean by having not much of a family, did something happen to them? “You don’t need to act like someone’s just died, Y/N.”

“I… sorry.”

“I guess I shouldn’t make jokes around people who don’t know the full story, sorry for making things awkward.”

“No… it’s alright?” Your voice comes out as a question, like you’re trying to prod him on to say something, if his family really is alright. But he chooses to ignore your response and instead goes on to babble on about some more stuff to do with the party crashing. You stare down at the floor plans of the house but you don’t really take much notice to it because you can’t help but feel saddened. Who is this boy? And will he ever tell you?

* * *

 

 

The Boy parks his motorcycle around the corner from the street you’re about to attack. You start to wonder why you’re riding around on The Boy’s motorcycle, hanging out at his home, if he doesn’t even trust you enough to tell you his name. Is that it? He doesn’t trust you? Or maybe he doesn’t want the bad things that could happen to fall back on his name. “Y/N? Are you with me?” You nod your head and think about not getting distracted while you climb up the side of this poor sucker’s house.

The Boy opens the bedroom window first and rolls in, and then so do you. But instead of feeling the prick of excitement and thrill of the first step to party crashing, you gasp. Quite loudly too. The Boy’s eyes flick to yours in confusion, “What?”

“I… This is Thomas’s house.”

The Boy blinks and his confused face turns into a frown, “You know Thomas?”

“I told you my friend’s name, didn’t I?”

“Probably, but do you know how many Thomas’ there are?!”

Both of you drop to the ground as soon as you hear footsteps brush by, and then you direct your attention over to The Boy, “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

The Boy looks at you in disbelief, “I bloody showed you the maps to the house and everything! Were you even listening at all?”

“I-

The door opens and you quickly flatten yourself to the floor like a squished pancake. There is no way you’re going to get caught party crashing in your friends home, no way in- hang on a second, Thomas is having a party? Without you?

“Should we really be doing this? I mean, everyone is downstairs…” You hear Teresa slightly giggle and you instantly frown. She got invited but not you? What the hell is going on?

“It’ll be fine, everyone’s pretty much drunk off their asses anyway.” You try to suppress the anger that bubbles within you but instead you quickly rise to your feet, only to be pulled back down. Luckily, neither Thomas nor Teresa saw you’re almost outburst; they’re too busy making out.

“Let go of me!” You whisper angrily. The Boy places a finger over his lips and slides underneath the bed on his stomach, you follow. He curls up slightly onto his side and listens patiently, so do you. Although, you don’t really want to have to be around when your best friend is getting laid.

“Now.” He whispers and rolls out of underneath the bed with you following, you both sneak out of the room unseen; you start to thank your lucky stars but The Boy grabs your wrist and pulls you into his chest as a drunk guy walks past the two of you, stumbling and mumbling incoherent jumbles.

“Thanks.” You whisper but The Boy only looks down at you with a vaguely pissed off expression.

“What the hell was that? You almost got us caught!” You blink and then remember exactly why you had almost decapitated Thomas and you bite your lip so the tears don’t spill. You don’t want The Boy to think your weak and that you actually give two shits about this stupid boy you called a friend. You’re not sure anymore.

“I wasn’t invited.”

The Boy looks grimly down at you and sighs, “That’s just like the Thomas I knew.”

Instead of moping around you quickly brush away the lingering tears in your eyes, pull up your hoodie and place a firm grip onto your backpack. “Let’s do this thing.”

“Hell yeah.” The Boy agrees and you both proceed into action.

First, you wrap every single thing in toilet paper down in the living room, even the numerous passed out bodies that scatter the carpeted floor. You make sure to leave breathing holes though. Then you move onto the kitchen and cover everything in Vaseline but you leave the floor out of it as you think the Vaseline will probably drip down and melt itself over the floor during the night anyway. Then after that, you tease around the still awaken drunks by gently spraying water into their faces and watch them grab for the water while saying something along the lines of, “Stop peeing in my face,” or “Why won’t you just let me drink the damn thing?”

After giggling for who knows how long, suddenly The Boy runs into you in a panic, his eyes wide in fright. He mumbles something but you don’t quite catch it and before you can understand what he’s trying to tell you, you’re both stopped by a deadly familiar voice and you feel like shrinking into the walls to never return. “Y/N?” You slowly, but surely, turn around to face Thomas.

As he sees you his eyes light up in excitement and he comes crashing towards you. His arm slings around your shoulders, bringing you incredibly close, “Hey guys! Guys! This is my bestestestest friend called Y/N. She is the bestestestest friend.” You wave dumbly to the small crowd of drunk teenagers who dumbly wave back at you, you can’t help but laugh half at their incapability of understanding what’s really happening here and half out of relief that Thomas is well over tipsy.

“We should get out of here now… I think we’ve done enough.” The Boy whispers but before you can get Thomas to loosen his grip on you, Thomas turns around to face The Boy and you suddenly come back to the realisation that they must have known each other…

“Newton?”

Newton growls, “You know I hate that name, Thomas.”

You look between the two of them, confused and kind of terrified. The vibe between the two grows increasingly more and more unstable and… angry. But suddenly, Thomas throws his arms around Newton and gives him a great, big kiss on the side of his cheek. “Of course, Newt. Sorry about that, just the slip of the tongue. How’s life been these past few years?”

“Uh, great I suppose.” Newt’s eyes flash worriedly over at you as he silently calls for help.

“You know something? We should go call Minho. Yeah, we should go call Minho! Let’s do it right now!”

Newt latches onto Thomas’ arms and pleads, “No, no, no, Thomas, you don’t need to do that. We’ll talk to Minho tomorrow, okay? You can call it the Golden Trio Reunited –or something.” So Thomas was a part of that, was he? You stare over at the both of them as Newt tries desperately to get out of his grip and how Thomas latches on so tightly, was Thomas ever going to tell you about his adventures with this Golden Trio business?

You cautiously walk over to Thomas and spin him around, resisting the urge to slap that stupid drunken smile off his face and instead ask him this, “Why didn’t you invite me to your party?”

He smiles softly, “Because Y/N was finally venturing out into the big world and I didn’t want to ruin her plans with that boy she met.”

You feel the tears again, they prick at the edges of your eyes. “Oh Thomas.”

“Oh Thomas indeed.” Newt sighs, sort of irritated.

You shake your head and leave Thomas to the rest of the drunken crowd and as you walk down the street you vaguely hear him screaming for more beer. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Same. I had been planning it for a while but I guess you were the one to give me the final push.”

You bring your hand to your face, “I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.”

Newt chuckles, “Neither.”

You walk him to his motorcycle and just before he hops on you tap his shoulder and give him a pleasant smile, “Thanks for tonight, I guess it was good. Although I’m probably going to have to clean it up tomorrow.”

Newt grins goofily, “But it was fun, right?”

You bite your lip before answering, “Yeah I guess it was, probably because you were there am I right?”

“Are you trying to flirt with me?”

Your cheeks go red, “N-no! I was just joking around-

Suddenly you’re engulfed by Newt’s leather-covered arms and pulled into his chest for a goodbye hug. You’re surprised as you didn’t quite think you’re night together would lead to this but you’re glad it did, Newt gives nice hugs and sometimes it’s good to be completely reassured by someone you don’t know that well. Suddenly, your phone _pings!_

**The Boy:** :)

You stare blankly down at your screen with your eyebrows knitted into a confused frown. Newt chuckles, you feel his stomach vibrate with laughter, “Ah, I knew I was The Boy. Guess who’s going to be reading through your blog tonight?”

Your eyes widen and you desperately grip onto his arm, pulling him away from his vehicle. “Please don’t Newt, please, it’s so bad, and I will seriously injure you if you do.” He starts to laugh and your voice only grows more desperate, “Newt, I’ll go home right now and delete my blog if I have to. Please don’t read it, I beg of you!”

“Well, you better start running.” He gives you an excited and amused wink before speeding off down the road, leaving you in the dust.

You start running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading this chapter! More to come soon :)


	3. The Silo

You sigh as you pick off the last toilet paper strip from a still passed out body whose identity remains unknown to both you and Thomas. “I really am sorry…”

Thomas laughs and stuffs the toilet paper into his almost over-flowing garbage bag, “It’s alright, it’s alright. I’m actually quite impressed with your skills, they seem vaguely familiar…”

You open your mouth to tell him the truth that it wasn’t just “another boy” who accompanied you to party crash Thomas’ house last night but you immediately shut your mouth. It’s not your place to bring up Newt to Thomas, it might bring up some unwanted memories and you’re almost 100% sure that if you tell Thomas it was Newt’s idea then he’ll go into a rage.

“Want to go out and get some pizza?” Thomas asks as soon as he re-enters the room from disposing the garbage bag.

Suddenly, you’re quickly reminded of your lunch date with Newt that he’d arranged last night after scrolling through your blog for the fiftieth time, you know he’ll never let you live that down. “I would but I’m going out with Ne-

You immediately stop yourself with widened eyes and then you double over into a fake coughing fit as Thomas stares down worriedly at you asking if you’re okay.

“I’m –I’m fine.” You take in a breath and pretend to clear your throat, “I think I just choked on my own saliva.” You put out slight chuckle to lighten the mood, “Anyway, I’m going out with Nathan again, that boy I told you about.”

Thomas flashes a smile but the mood in his eyes don’t match his grin and you feel guilty for turning down his invitation so you say, “Raincheck?”

He nods, “Have nice afternoon out.”

You leave Thomas’s house feeling a little unsure but decide to just ignore it as curiosity gets the better of you because of this meeting up with Newt. You know it’s just supposed to be a casual lunch date, with him embarrassing you further because of your blog but you think you’ll use it to find more out of the Golden Trio. You have a feeling that there is more to it then just the separation because of different high schools…

* * *

“I really like how you portrayed me to be some sexy, mysterious man in this one,” he says while shoving his mobile screen into your face, “I never knew you thought of me like that.”

“Shut up.” You groan and spin your fork around your pasta to gather up a good mouthful. Although the pasta is delicious, you made a grave mistake. It’s the messiest food to eat and you don’t want to look like a savage in front of Newt.

“So how was cleaning up Thomas’s house?” He asks before taking a bite into his sandwich.

You sigh, “It was  _the_  most fun I’ve ever had!” Sarcasm drips off your voice and Newt can’t help but smile. “Well, it was alright, but I’ve definitely had enough of Vaseline for a very long time. Also, he doesn’t remember anything except…”

Newt’s eyes flash worriedly, “Except what?”

You groan disgustedly, “Except his little intimate time with Teresa…”

Newt laughs as you make an even more disgusted face, luckily you got out from underneath the bed before you experienced some of the real “business” they did.

“Hey, I know, maybe you should come with me to Thomas’s tonight.”

Newt frowns, “I don’t think so. I haven’t seen him since…” A long pause takes place and it only makes you even more curious. And it answers your thought about being more to the story than he let on.

“About the Golden Trio, what even happened?” You try bravely, hoping he’ll give you a clear answer.

“I told you, we had to go to different high schools.” He says simply while staring down at his plate of food. You see his fists clench slightly and looking back at it now, you should have taken that as a sign to not press further…

“C’mon Newt,” You say gently, “I saw how worried you were when he saw you. What really happened?”

“I…” He shakes his head, “Do you want to see something cool after?”

“Newt?”

“I know this really nice park with gorgeous trees, and it’s autumn so the leaves will look fantastic with their yellow, orange and red…”

“Newt…”

You see tears well up in the corners of his eyes but he continues to babble on about this supposedly beautiful park. When his hands start to match his shaking voice you order some containers to take your food home in and immediately leave the café with a terrified Newt in your arms. He still continues about the park as you try to find a taxi since taking his motorcycle is definitely a no-go. But you can’t spot any taxis anywhere and you don’t even have the money for it so instead you call Thomas.

“Look, I’m really sorry but could you pick us up? We’re at Monty’s Café. Something is happening to Newt and I can’t get him to settle down and I know you don’t like him and I know something happened in the past with the two of you and I’m not sure if seeing you will make him worse but we need to get him to my house, please.”

“Wait, what? What happened to this Nathan guy? You’re with Newton?” Thomas’s questions pour out uncontrollably.

“Thomas, we need you right now. Please, I’ll explain later.” Your voice becomes choked with tears. 

After a few minutes you hear a soft reply, “Alright.”

As Newt’s rambles worsen you grab the edges of his gentle face and you stare into his brown eyes, with a pleading voice you try desperately to pull him out of this weird in between conscious and sub-conscious he’s put himself into, “Newt. Listen to me, I don’t know what’s happening to you but I’m taking you home; got it?”

All the while you talk, his eyes don’t even fall onto yours.

* * *

After settling Newt down onto the couch, thankful that none of your family members are home, you start making a cup of tea but after thinking through all the possible outcomes of Newt’d outburst makes your hands shake excessively and you spill the milk everywhere. You break down into tears as Thomas mops it up.

“It’s my fault.” You groan into your hands as they are wet with your salty tears of guilt and sadness. “If I didn’t ask him about you…”

“You knew?”

“I knew you two had history, the Golden Trio? With some other guy called Mo- no -Minho?”

Thomas sighs and places the mop back into the bucket and takes a seat next to you, “Yes. Newt, Minho and me. The Golden Trio.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You don’t want to understand.”

You look over at Thomas and grab his wrist pleadingly, “Yes, I do Thomas. My friend is stuck in his own rambling mind because of me and I don’t even know why.”

Thomas leans back into the kitchen chair and mumbles, “Where do I even begin?”

“At the beginning,” you say softly, urging him on.

He sighs and after a few minutes of thinking-silence he begins, “We were friends since primary school but the name, Golden Trio, didn’t fall into place until the start of middle school. We were called that because we were inseparable, and we always did “cool kid stuff” like climbing roofs, swinging on ropes over lakes, things like that.” Thomas sighs and you catch him glance over at Newt whose seemed to quiet down. “We did all those things because they were just harmless dares, you know? Stupid kid stuff. Until…”

“Until?”

“Until we did something seriously stupid.”

_The Golden Trio, they called them, climbed up the grassy hill. Thomas pointed out the old, worn silo at the top of the hill and exclaimed, “I bet that I could stay the night inside there longer than any of you!”_

_Minho immediately jumped in, “No way! I could easily beat you two, like that!” He said, showing a click of his fingers._

_“I don’t know…” Newt said, unsure of his fate within the howling silo. He stared up at it, you could almost see the shivers run down his back. “Why don’t we just go play at our tree house instead?”_

_“This is our last night together, Newt! Remember? We’re moving to different sides of town, different high schools. We have to go out with a bang!” Thomas explained._

_“I still don’t know…”_

_“Don’t be such a wuss! Scaredy cat!” Minho teased._

“It was true, we thought of Newt as nothing other than a scared little boy so we thought that a night in the silo would make more of a man out of him. We…” Thomas pauses as though he despises going on to tell the story. You start to get worried for Newt, what did they do?

“Once we climbed up the ladder inside the silo we stayed on the first floor because the second-floor-ladder had disappeared. Anyway, Minho and me, we… we left Newt there by himself. When he was almost asleep we ran out of there and knocked the ladder down and told him we’d see him in the morning.”

“Oh Thomas…”

“We didn’t know, I swear we didn’t know that there was going to be a storm. The thunder must have been so loud in the silo… the flashes of lightning… and the howling wind, it bucketed down with rain and by morning we found him curled up muttering incoherent sentences. Sick with a fever. He screamed at us when he saw us and started to cry… I wasn’t thinking, we weren’t thinking at all. I was just an inconsiderate little brat.”

You stand up from the kitchen table and back away from Thomas, “I can’t believe you did something like that to a child!”

“I was a child too! We were just kids! I didn’t know… I didn’t know, I swear it!”

“Thomas…” You shake your head, “We’ll talk later, but right now? I think you should leave. I need to make sure Newt’s okay, please go out through the back.”

Thomas open his mouth but doesn’t say anything, instead he does what he’s told and you quickly tend to Newt. You enter the room and Newt looks around at the house and at you mildly confused, “Did I pass out or something? What happened to having lunch at the café?”

You hand him his sandwich and he looks at it, something flashes across his eyes and his cheeks go red, not with embarrassment but with disappointment; ashamed. “I’m sorry… I –did I freak out?”

“You just talked.”

He shakes his head, “I wanted to tell you but… I can never get it out without-

“It’s okay.” You pull Newt into your arms and he hugs you back, weakly, “Thomas told me what happened. I am so sorry Newt, I didn’t know Thomas would ever do something like that.”

Newt whimpers in reply so you just hug him tighter. “It’s okay, you’re alright.” You coo softly and he returns the gesture. “Do you want to go home?”

“Yeah.”

* * *

As you walk up the driveway of your house, you feel strangely accomplished. You’re glad that you know a bit more about the Trio but you’re also ashamed of Thomas’s actions. You can’t get the picture of Newt’s terrified expression out of your mind… you offered to stay the night at his house but he practically pushed you out the door. You walk inside your house and see the living room light on and hear Thomas’s floaty laughter and another voice you don’t recognize. Just because he’s your neighbor doesn’t mean he can just intrude in your home!

You smell Chinese takeout as you enter the living room, Thomas and his guest turn to look at you.

“Y/N! Um, is Newt okay?”

“He’s fine, he’s at home.” You growl, clenching your fists. Why is he acting like everything is okay between the two of you? You just found out that he traumatized some poor kid for life. Why is he so carefree when poor Newt had to go through the night at the silo all over again? “What the hell is going on here?”

“This is Minho,” Thomas pulls your attention towards the stranger and your eyes widen, it’s the final member of the Trio.

Minho smiles sweetly, although you’d rather sock him in the head before friendly greetings. He stretches out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Y/N.”

Alright, so maybe you were supposedly joking when you thought about punching him in the face, but for some reason, your hand just does it. Your hand is like one of those people in a group conversation when someone from the group makes a joke that they don’t understand and instead take it quite literally. 

While your hand flails out from your side, you start to wonder if you’ve just entered a weird dream. Maybe you fell asleep at Newt’s house while putting him to bed. But instead you smack him right in the cheek, skin on skin, at first you feel quite satisfied with yourself and then you slowly start to  feel astonished. Not guilty, just astonished.

“Nice to meet you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it took a while to update, I didn't have internet! Anyway, hope you enjoy :)


	4. Sucker Punch Aftermath

“So I heard you punched Thomas’s friend in the face?” Your mother says as she sets up the dinner table while dressed in a freshly ironed dress. It’s the day after you had that little thrilling event and it seems as though it’s the talk of the town, you wonder how long it will be until it reaches Eastbay…

You sigh and help place out the knives and forks, “Yes, I did. How did you find out?”

“Thomas’s mother, of course.”

You roll your eyes and set down the last piece of cutlery, you try to sneak away from the living room before things get nasty but you’re too late. “I’m not finished yet.”

“Alright Mum, go ahead and drab on about how I made the wrong decision.” You say sarcastically, almost knowing her lectures off by heart. But this time she only looks at you, a firm look in her eye. You can’t quite read the emotion she’s expressing and it only irritates you further. She just stares.

“Mum.”

“Are you in a gang?”

You hold back the burst of laughter and instead reply, very amused, “Yes Mum, I am in a gang. We meet every Sunday night to smoke weed and sell all sorts of wonderful drugs, right in our living room.”

“Don’t get sarcastic with me, I’m just trying to be a parent.”

“Yes, one of your many strengths.” Again your voice is laced with sarcasm and you can’t help but give her another roll of your eye. She only gives you a menacing sort of stare, one you’ve seen many times. You’re not allowed to be a smart-ass around her, just smart. You walk around the table, giving it one final look and decide you’d rather eat out tonight than stay at home.

“You're not finished with the cutlery!” Your Mom calls from the living room.

You screw your eyebrows together, “I’m pretty sure I know how many people are in this family.”

You walk over into the lounge room and grab your coat from off the couch and head for the front door but you’re stopped short by a ring on the doorbell. “That would be the guests, Y/N, let them in please.”

Guests?

You open the front door and you come eye to eye with Thomas and his small family behind him plus a few extras who you don’t even bother to give a look over because you’re still thoroughly pissed at Thomas for trying to cover up Newt’s breakdown from last night, and for bringing his friend over for a lovely chat. Thomas eyes you off too but instead of trying to act like everything’s okay, like usual, he just pushes past you.

“Going out?” Thomas’s Mom asks but you can hint a sort of judgment about you behind her eyes and before you can answer smartly your Mom cuts in.

“No, she’s having dinner with us aren’t you?” You turn to stare at her and she raises her eyebrows as if to say that you really have no say in the matter whether you like it or not.

In a defeated sigh you hang your coat back up and sit at the far end of the table, away from Thomas. You start to ponder why your Mom called Thomas’s family guests as they pretty much live here half the time anyway but then you see another family enter, they must have been the stragglers you didn’t bother to check out and now that you’ve seen them, you definitely should have bothered to look earlier.

Minho and his family enter the room, and of course you immediately spot the bruise on his cheek where you smacked him one. You look away in embarrassment and stare down at your dinner plate; wishing you’d left earlier.

“It’s so good to meet you, Glenn has been telling us a lot about your and your family.” Your Mom says as she shows them to the dinner table. They converse politely as you stare down at your hands in your lap wishing to be anywhere but here.

Your fingers itch for your phone as you feel the need to text Newt but you’re worried that if you bring up Minho and Thomas again, he might fade away like before. You can’t have that happen again. Especially if he is all by himself.

The meal begins and whenever a question is thrown your way you answer quietly and politely, you occasionally catch a glare from Thomas but you avoid him as much as possible. The night drags on slowly and you start to wonder if you’ll ever be able to escape. Then your idiotic Father opens his mouth and asks the question that is the start of the end of this polite, fancy dinner.

“Nice bruise on your cheek, how does the other guy look?”

You bite your lip and hope upon hope that Minho doesn’t say anything about you, and as his mouth opens to reply with no revengeful or spiteful look in his eye you start to think about how maybe he’d rather not point fingers at you. But why would he do something like that? Isn’t he mad? Or is it because he doesn’t want to be seen beaten up by a girl?

But as the words start to tumble from Minho’s mouth, Thomas immediately cuts in and says, “Take a look for yourself.” With a thrown finger over at you. You watch as every head turns to look at you, except Minho. He stares back at Thomas.

“Y/N…?” Your Father asks, confused.

But you don’t reply, instead you just glare at Thomas. What happened to this sweet friend of yours? Were you to harsh when you called him out for being an ass? No, you can’t take that back. Thomas stepped out of line and he knew it, so is this some sort of revenge?

“Thomas?” Thomas’s Father questions, “Is this… are you joking?”

“I can’t believe you, Thomas.” You almost growl. The attention is turned back to you. You turn your own attention to your Mom, “I’m going out.”

As you step out from your seat, Thomas stands up. “Where are you going? To Newt’s house I suppose?”

“You have a problem with that?”

“Newton…?” Minho’s Mother starts quietly, glancing over to Minho. But Minho has diverted his attention to nothing, he simply stares into space.

You leave them.

* * *

“This is my fault… if you didn’t know me then no one would be against you.” Newt almost whispers as he sits down onto the couch, head in his hands.

“It is not your fault! If Thomas wasn’t such an ass…”

“He wouldn’t be an ass if it wasn’t for me.”

“Newt, stop defending him.” You bite your tongue as you resist the urge to remind Newt exactly what Thomas had done all those years ago and you refrain yourself from telling him what happened last night when you punched Minho.

“I’m not I just –I don’t want to be the reason you can’t have dinner with your family.”

“You’re not, Thomas is. Besides, I don’t want to have dinner with them anyway, they always do things like this. Last time their topic of conversation was how much of a failure I am.”

“A failure? You’re only a senior. You haven’t had a chance to do anything to become a complete failure at.” Newt argues with a sour expression but also with a hidden expression behind his eyes, something like an understanding. You have the feeling that this isn’t the first time he’s used this as an argument.

“Try telling that to my parents.” You give him a soft sigh and plop down next to him on the couch, “Why do so many things just suck?”

“I don’t know,” Newt says softly as he scoots closer to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You’re suddenly aware of Newt’s affectionate side, but then maybe he’s just a very affectionate sort of person. You’ve only ever been affectionate with Thomas, being best friends since Freshman Year has its perks but then again: is that friendship lost?

“I can’t sit here with my own thoughts.” You start, suddenly feeling a little bit nausea over the subject of friendship. All those times you had with Thomas, and only now is he showing his true side. Is it? Is that really who Thomas is?

“Okay, well I suppose you’re still hungry having left midway through your meal.” Newt says and stands up from the couch, reaching for his keys to his car.

“Actually, I’m starving. I didn’t touch my food.” You reply while gathering your coat into your arms. As you slip it on, you notice a heavy weight in your pocket and you reach inside. You’d forgotten about placing your phone in there. You take it out and light up the screen and you’re thoroughly disappointed.

No texts. No missed calls. Nothing.

Its one thing to be pissed off about your family but it’s another to just know, deep down in your heart, in your mind, to know that they do not care about you. At all. You didn’t expect Thomas to text, but what about your parents?

Newt walks over and glances down at your phone, “Let me guess, 45 missed calls and seven texts.”

You chuckle, a dry, half-hearted laugh that happens when nothing is really funny at all, just depressing. “Close enough.”

Newt looks suspiciously over at you for maybe a few seconds before heading to the front door, “Pizza or-

“Let’s eat here instead, I don’t feel like going out.” You walk over to his small but modern, open kitchen and slide open the pantry door. You inspect his cupboard, you don’t see anything worth making until your eyes slither over a box of pasta. “Ever had pasta bake?”

Newt looks over at you, slightly worried and says, “You can cook?”

“Dunno.” You take out the box of pasta and start grabbing other ingredients from around the kitchen. “But it doesn’t hurt to try, am I right?”

Newt brings his hand to the back of his head and itches it nervously, “Well, you know, it’s really not that much of a hassle to just go and get a pizza…”

“Which is why so many of us are fat.” You hold up tomatoes, capsicums and other necessary vegetables that you remember for the bake. “This has real food.”

“It won’t be real food once you take it out of the oven…” Newt argues, putting his car keys away. Then he strolls over to the couch and flops himself onto it once again, “Just try not to burn the house down.”

You slice into a tomato, “Ahem,” you slightly cough, “I’m not your slave.”

Newt raises his eyebrows, “Excuse me?”

“Come help me.”

He considers his options for a moment, whether to help or run, but being the kind person he is, he chooses to join you and you flash him a smile as he starts helping with the vegetables. And sooner than five minutes you two become a pair, a working team. You practically dance around each other as you open shelves and drawers, put things away or wash them. It’s the most fun you’ve had since crashing Thomas’s party.

Although a few times you bump into him but you start to consider that he’s doing it on purpose, especially because of that evil smirk he wears every time he does it. 

“If you don’t stop bumping into me, some serious shit will go down, shank.”

Newt closes the gap between you two to the point of it being only mere centimetres between you, “Oh yeah? What are you going to do, throw flour on me?”

You grin evilly and take handful off the stuff, “Maybe I will.”

His eyes widen in horror as you lift your hand, “Oh come on, I washed my hair today!”

You prowl closer to Newt, like a lion closing in on their prey, “Argh!” You pounce right into him, his body knocks into the bench behind him. He slips his hands on the bench to support himself. You bring your hand up to his head, your other hand pressed against the bench, supporting your weight, but then you quickly drop the flour into the sink beside him and say smugly, “Gotcha.”

“That was… thrilling.” He says jokingly.

You immediately notice the close proximity, or in other words, the lack of space. You blush and turn away from he so he doesn’t notice while you tend to the sauce. 

You sprinkle on the final layer of cheese and grin proudly down at Newt and yours creation, the detailed smells and colours flash back at you. “Now all we need to do is not set it on fire.” You take it gently into your hands and slide it into the oven. After fixing the settings you close the oven door and set a timer.

“Now hopefully it should- You’re immediately cut off by a splash of tomato paste, colouring your face incredibly red. You smell the tomato and almost cringe at it’s overpowering scent. “I hate you, Newt _on_.” As you speak, some of the paste slips into your mouth and you almost choke.

“Personally, I think it is an improvement.” He says smugly.

You manage to cough up the paste and wipe the remains off your face with a wet cloth, “Well, now I know what your fetish is.”

He laughs it off and brings his hand over to your face as he steady’s it upright before swiping his thumb across one of your cheeks, he looks down at your confused face and says, “You missed a bit.”

You catch yourself staring dumbly into his brown eyes and quickly shift your stare away awkwardly, “Thanks.” He takes his hand away and you mentally slap yourself for being so embarrassingly awkward. “What kind of movies do you have?”

“Oh,” He says excitedly, “Lots.”

* * *

In the end, the bake didn’t turn out so well. Apparently you have to boil the pasta before putting it in the oven, who knew? Not you obviously. So instead you succumb to Newt’s ways and order a pizza. After watching the third movie, you definitely know that you’ve become sleepy. So has Newt. He kindly does the dishes without asking you to help while you lounge over his couch, the TV on some random channel. “Do you want me to take you home?”

Instead of replying, a loud knock sounds over Newt’s front door and you both look over at it curiously. You then glance at Newt, he glances at you with shrugged shoulders. “Who is it?” He calls cautiously as he edges closer to his front door. The banging stops, a few whispers break out and then a firm voice answers from behind the door.

“It’s me, Thomas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter for today to make up for my lack of updates over the past week!


	5. Chapter 5

Newt stops just a few centimeters before the front door, he doesn’t say anything back; he just stares. You watch the back of his head as it tilts slightly to the right. You’re not sure what to do at this point but you have to think fast before something terrible happens. The question is: open the door or ignore it? You can’t exactly ignore it with the hopes of Thomas thinking you’ve gone out since Newt asked who was there, but there might be chance that they will just leave… But then again, you know that is very unlikely.

You walk up to the front door and stand beside Newt. You place a cautious hand gently down onto Newt’s arm. He flinches immediately but when his eyes meet you his tensed muscles becomes calm and his eyes fill with color once again, he’s back. For now.

“Thomas, I don’t know why you’re here but you should leave.” You say bravely, hoping that your intimidating voice is enough to persuade his decision.

“Y/N if you don’t open this door, I will.” He almost growls.

You realise you’ve become frightened. Frightened of this boy you used to call a friend. It’s like everything you ever knew is slowly dripping away before you, as if you’re a caterpillar forming in a cocoon to become a butterfly, a new being, a new person with a new life and new friends. You’re not sure if that’s what you want. At the back of your mind, you know you don’t want your friendship to end with Thomas but if he continues down this path… is that what it will have to come to?

“Why are you doing this?” You ask with a quiver to your voice. You stare down at the door knob as it begins to shake violently, a pounding begins out on the door. You try to picture Thomas’s face behind the door, angry and stupid. You stare at this made up face and shout at it, “You’re wrong if you think you can break this door down!”

“Watch me.”

“I’ll call the police, Thomas!” You didn’t want to have it come to this but there’s no stopping Thomas now, he’s already made his decision.

The door just continues to pound.

“Make it stop…” Newt whispers, his hands over his ears. He slowly starts to go into a crouch but you immediately pick him up by his arm and drag him away from the door. “Let me out!”

You cup Newt’s face into your hands but his eyes refuse to stare back into yours. He pushes himself away from you and hides in a corner of the room, hugging his knees. He’s become the scared little boy he was when in the silo. You watch as he begins to cry and continues to ask to be let out of here. You can’t watch Newt like this, you can’t have this endless battle between the both of them. You know you have to get Newt out of here, it’s the only way he’ll calm down. The front door is obviously a big no-no but maybe the window… But in his state? Will Newt be able to follow you out of the window and down the side of the building like he used to?

And that’s when an idea comes into your head.

You run over to the crouched boy, shivering in his shoes, “Newt!”

He cautiously looks up at you, his face tear stained and terrified, “Wh-who are you?”

You glance quickly at the window and then back to Newt, “That doesn’t matter right now, but I know you want to get out; right? You want to leave the silo?”

Newt violently nods his head but he still flinches slightly with every pound on the door. “Don’t worry about the banging, that’s just a loose window cover pounding from the wind.”

Newt nods his head again and reaches out for your hand, you take it firmly into yours and lead him away from the front door, over to the living room and then to the window. “Alright, all you have to do is follow me out of this window; can you do that?”

Newt looks back over to the door and then back to you, he nods his head again.

“Okay.” You open the window and easily slide yourself out. Newt looks over the side but decides that this is a better option than staying in the “silo”. He cautiously follows your steps and moves until after what seems like a decade, you reach the bottom of the building. “You alright?”

“We’re out of the silo?” He asks, uncertainty laced through his voice.

“We’re out of the silo.” You state and pull him into a hug, you feel his quivering body shake in your arms and you hug tighter; although it doesn’t seem to work as much. Even with his shaking body, a sense of relief passes through you. Maybe from here on out, things will be easier.

You lead Newt away from the side of the building and past the front entrance but before you can make it to the next street alleyway, you’re stopped short by two boys. You see their muscles through their shirts, their hardened jaws and menacing glare. You do not recognise them at all.

“Y/N?”

“What?” You ask, trying to act dumb but it’s too late for that because Thomas and Minho make their way through the front entrance of the apartment block. They stare at you before glancing over at Newt.

“Y/N, just come home.” Thomas says gently, offering a hand out to you.

You take Newt’s hand into yours, his body stops shaking but you’re still not sure whether he’s thirteen year old Newt or seventeen year old Newt. “I don’t think so.” Your grip tightens around Newt’s loosely held fingers.

“Why do you want to be around this freak? Did you not just see what happened? What happened that day at the café? He’s mental!” Thomas cries furiously, Newt flinches at his voice.

“Newt is not a freak. He just needs support and help, which is what I am trying to supply! What are you doing? Breaking into his own home and edging on these attacks! You tortured him by leaving him in that silo four or five years ago and you’re still torturing him today!” You notice the guilt in Minho’s eyes but Thomas’s stay the same: cold. “It’s your fault he’s unstable, don’t you forget it.” You end with gritted teeth and then you push past the group of boys. You worry that Newt won’t follow but he does and your heart flutters when you feel a squeeze from his hand.

“It’s alright Newt, you don’t have to be around those assholes anymore. I’m so sorry, I am so sorry.” You say quietly, your voice trembling. “It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have come over like that. They wouldn’t have followed me. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, love.” His voice is croaky and coming out of distress. “I’m sure they would have come along sooner or later anyway.”

You continue to stand in the middle of the street, “Where do we go?” You ask after few minutes of silence, suddenly aware that going back to your house would be a disaster and you don’t feel particularly like leaving Newt alone. Not this time.

“I have a friend.” Newt whispers, “Not too far from here. We could probably walk.”

“Are you sure?”

His gorgeous brown eyes flit over you a second as he considers his answers, his hand still on yours, “I’m sure.”

* * *

After the second round of knocking, Newt’s friend finally comes to the door. He opens it up with a sleepy and vaguely pissed off expression on his face. “What is your shank butt doing on my doorstep at this hour?” The friend then proceeds to give you a look, “And who’s she?”

“I’m really sorry…” He sighs, “Could we stay for the night? Just tonight; that’s all.”

He gives you two another look before swinging the door wide open, “Fine but you better not have any sort of drug thing happening or pregnancy…”

“I’m not pregnant.” You state flatly as you hug your shivering arms tighter to your chest. Newt gives him a ‘just shut up’ look before leading you inside.

“Oh, right, sorry, Y/N this is Alby, Alby this is Y/N.”

Alby and you greet each other with a shake of the hand before Alby sleepily tramples over to his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. You hear a slight thump and guess he’s flopped himself over his bed.

“I guess we just sleep on the couches.” Newt says, grabbing a few blankets and pillows. “Did you want a snack? Drink?”

You choose a couch to sleep on for the night, “No, I’m alright. I just need sleep.”

He throws over a few blankets and a pillow, “Alright love, goodnight.”

You sigh and settle yourself onto the couch, “Goodnight.”

* * *

“No!”

“Please!”

“Please let me out!”

“Don’t leave me here!”

Your tired eyes snap open at the sound of Newt’s whimpering voice and you immediately roll off the side of your couch and crawl over to his. You watch as he twists and turns inside his cocoon of blankets, only wrapping him up tighter and tighter. “Newt,” You yawn widely. You help unwrap himself from the trap of blankets he’s got himself into and he whimpers softly again and again. “It’s alright Newt, its okay.” You coo softly and settle him down once again. “You’re inside Alby’s home, you’re nowhere near the silo.”

“The silo?” Alby questions from the side of the room. His shirtless body makes you slightly embarrassed but you avoid the temptation of staring at his defined abs. “Is he still having those nightmares?”

You hesitate before continuing on to say, “Yeah. He’ll be alright, though.”

“Alright.” Alby agrees, but you still sense a sort of disagreement in his voice. You wonder if Alby is the only person Newt has told about that night in the silo. Maybe he didn’t even tell him all of the story, maybe Alby thinks that these are just some random nightmares. But then again, even if Alby doesn’t know the full story, you’re sure that he’d think there was more to it. You saw it in his eyes.

Without another word, Alby quietly leaves the room and finds his way back to his bedroom and soon you hear the soft rhythmic noise of his snoring again.

Unexpectedly, a hand finds its way onto yours; warm.   
“Stay with me.” Newt whispers huskily; rough. His eyes half opened and drenched in exhaustion. 

And suddenly you’re wide awake, heart thumping fast. Did you hear him correctly? “Sorry?”

Newt lazily opens his cocoon of blankets, an invitation you guess. You’re not sure how to react however, it’s not like you haven’t slept with someone else before. You’ve had tons of sleepovers with Thomas, and the girls from your Art class, but this close intimacy you’re about to envelope yourself into with Newt makes you anxious. But then again, both of you are half asleep. It wouldn’t mean a thing. And it’s clear to you that Newt needs you.

“Stay.”

You cautiously climb into his blankets and wrap him in your arms. Your fingers find his hair and you softly stroke it, “I’ll stay as long as you need.”


	6. The Truth

A soft ringing noise wakes you from your slumber and the events from last night’s crazed activities come pouring into your head. You groan and try to roll off the couch to reach for your mobile phone but then immediately realise that you’re still wrapped up tightly in Newt’s arms, most of you and him intertwined. You refuse to wake him so instead you stretch your arm out as far as it can go and you only just manage to reach your phone.

“Hello?” You yawn sleepily as you await your caller to reveal themselves since you didn’t bother to check the I.D because of your half-sleepiness state.

“Your Mom wants you home.” Thomas’ gruff voice orders over the phone, laced with sleep as well. Of course he has to call early in the morning so he can ruin your mood for the rest of the day, what are friends for?

“Why didn’t she call me herself?” You challenge, becoming riled already.

“She’s too distraught.”

“I’m sure she is.” You hang up the phone, throw it and watch it fly across the room over onto the next couch. You try to remind yourself that Thomas shouldn’t be able to control how you feel, but you can’t help it. He just angers you so much. The things he’s doing are not right, he can’t control your life the way he wants to. He can’t hurt Newt the way he does.

“Good morning Y/N.” Newt says huskily with a small yawn following. He blinks his gorgeous brown eyes open and stares up at an irritated, frowning you.

“Morning.” You sigh.

“Thomas?” Newt asks, although he needn’t to. It’s evident he already knows, who else can get you revved up this easily?

You snuggle your face back down into his shoulder, his arms wrap lazily around your back in reply. “I don’t want to leave. Can’t we just stay cuddled up like this forever?”

“We have school and work, and homework.” Newt reminds you as he brushes his fingers through your hair.

“I don’t want to go to school.”

“Neither do I but I have to if I want to go to college.” Newt reasons, “and so do you.”

“I’m going to start my own business, I don’t need college.” You counter, and then lift yourself up onto your elbows. Your chin resting in the nook of your cupped hands.

“Oh yeah?” Newt questions, a sleepy smirk crawls onto his face, “And what business might that be?” He can’t but help to yawn again, this time his lips stretch into a wide ‘o’ and you almost giggle at the sight.

But then you quickly remember his question and forbid yourself from getting distracted by Newt’s face ever again, “It’ll be set up somewhere near here.” You start, a smile tugging at your lips. “And people will come to my office and pay me to crash the parties of their biggest enemies.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes.”

“I’m afraid this business of yours won’t last very long though, you’re missing one thing.”

“What’s that?” You ask as your finger draws circles up along his cheeks. Maybe it’s the tiredness that’s making you this affectionate, you definitely know you would never just  _do_  something like this… although you are right now.

“Me, the best party crasher in town.”

You drop your hand from his face and immediately roll off the couch, “Sorry, the best party-crasher in town position is already filled; by me.” You smile innocently and sweetly down at him until he lazily picks himself off the couch and whips out a pillow, smacking you directly in the face.

“If you’re so high and mighty, then how come you didn’t smartly dodge that?” He challenges, preparing himself for a hit from your own pillow. However, little does he know that you’ve changed your mind.

You edge closer to him and keep the pillow in your hand until you’ve reach the checkpoint of your amazing plan. You drop your pillow and leap onto Newt, taking him to the floor. You keep him pinned which surprises you as you thought he’d easily free himself, him being half asleep has its perks.

“Getoffme.” He says under a smothering pillow.

“What was that?”

“Getoffme.”

“Sorry, I don’t think ‘get off me’ is the answer I wanted.” You keep the pillow over his face, but only very gently of course, as he squirms and kicks from underneath you.

“Y/N is the best party-crasher in town!” He almost screams and you immediately lift the pillow of his face and observe a slightly pissed slightly exhausted face that belongs to none other than Newt.

“That’s better.” You say sweetly and then roll off his bony body and start for the kitchen since breakfast is the only other thing that’s been on your mind since you woke up. “I’m starving.”

“Good because I made way too much food.” Alby says in reply from within the kitchen, which startles you as you almost forgot this house belonged to him. “Oh and are you two lovers done with whatever was happening on that couch?” His eyebrow raised.

“Ha-ha.” You say sarcastically before snatching up a plate of bacon and eggs. You eye it suspiciously and then mumble a thank you under your breath before settling down on the table to eat. Newt soon walks into the kitchen and you only just happen to realise that he’s in his boxers which consists of a pattern of Superman symbols. You stifle a giggle while forcing yourself to look away from the shirt that clings so desperately to his torso.

“Ha-ha you say?” Alby questions suggestively, and you immediately pull your eyes away from Newt. Instead of directing your attention to Alby you look away embarrassed, cheeks flushed and stare down at your food before shovelling it in.

“Pretty sure we’re supposed to  _eat_  our breakfast, not inhale it.” Newt points out as he takes a seat across from you, setting down his plate full with food. He looks at you with amusement coloured in his eyes.

“Shut up.” You mumble through a mouthful of food which only makes him laugh.

Your mood turns up after talking with Newt and Alby, and you forget all about your life back at home with your Mom and Thomas. You forget about all the hurt that has happened in the past week or so, you forget it all until Alby brings it all back up. You know it’s not his fault, he has a right to know why both you and Newt came barging into his house in the middle of the night. But you know it will only anger you.

“So what really happened last night, am I allowed to ask?” Alby asks softly while you help him wash the dishes. Newt left the room earlier to have a shower, so at least he didn’t have to be reminded.

“I don’t know if I should tell you or not…” You start, “I’m not sure if it’s my place to say.”

Alby passes you a soapy plate to dry, “Maybe you can try and tell me without much detail.”

You think about it for a moment and decide that his suggestion might actually be enough to keep that suspicion and curiosity away for a moment. But before you can leap into the wonderful story of two lonely party-crashers, your phone buzzes and you immediately answer knowing full well who it is.

“Thomas?”

“No, it’s your mother.”

You close and open your mouth, unsure what to say. Your mother barely ever calls you, she barely even cares about you -at least that is what you thought. You take the phone into your hands and press it against your ear, but before you can even greet your darling mother, her voice is heard and it isn't very lovely.

“If you don’t come home I will call the police.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not. I don’t know where you are which means you’re missing, right? Maybe even kidnapped?”

“You know I came here on my own-

“I don’t care! You’re coming home right now, Y/N. That’s all to it!”

You stare down at the phone in your hand, your Mom’s caller I.D lights up as it tells you that you’re in the middle of a call. You continue to stare down at it, anger bubbles inside your chest. Who does she think she is, your Mom? Bullshit! A Mom doesn’t threaten you, a real Mom doesn’t stay out of your life unless someone mentions that she should do something, a real Mom genuinely cares if you’ve stayed away from home for a night without any reason to. Your Mom doesn’t care. She only steps in when she notices that people are giving her the judgmental look, that’s all she cares about.

So you defy your Mother and throw the phone into the kitchen sink. You watch it slowly float around the bubbles until it tips into the water, sinking to the bottom.

No, of course you don’t do that. You can’t stand up to your mother. “Fine. I’ll be there soon.”

* * *

“Y/N, get in the house.” Your Mom ushers you inside and you shake her off your back before strolling angrily into the living room.

“What’s your problem-  
You immediately shut your mouth and stare down at the two boys that you keep seeing over and over again. “What the hell are you two doing here?” You spit, “I don’t have time for this. I didn’t come home to be interrogated.”

“We need to talk to you.”

You remain silent and wait for Thomas to continue his speech which supposedly will contain sentences such as… “It isn’t my fault,” or “I’m your real friend, not Newt.”

“I know you won’t listen to me,” Thomas says, a hard, stern look in his eye, “And you probably won’t listen to Minho either…” Then out of nowhere, another boy rises from the armchair and you’re almost shocked that you didn’t notice him before, he almost towers over you. “Like I said, you won’t listen to us but maybe you’ll listen to him.”

The tall boy with a hardened face stretches out a welcoming hand, you hesistate before shaking it, “The names Gally.”

“Y/N.” You drop your hand by your side.

“I need to talk to you about Newt.”

“I supposed so.”

“He’s not who you think he is.” He starts off immediately, and you try to figure out who this stranger is. The look in his eyes don’t give you any clue at what sort of guy he is and it makes you feel uneasy, you don’t really want to listen to another person bagging Newt but curiosity gets the better of you.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s psychotic.”

You take a step back, “What the hell is this? Are you trying to scare me from seeing him?”

“He stopped taking his medication ages ago, he has fits like you’ve witnessed. Sometimes they got out of control and everyone worried that he would seriously injure himself. Then he stopped coming to school and no one heard from him since, not even me, his best friend!”

You shake your head and back away slowly, “He’s never mentioned you before.”

“Why do you think he doesn’t live with his parents? It’s because they thought he was dangerous! He lived in England for some time with his parents after the silo incident, but they sent him back to America! They couldn’t help him!”

“You’re wrong! No family would ever do that to their kid!”

“Y/N-

“Just shut up! All of you!” You shake your head so furiously at them that you almost trip over as you take even more steps backwards, “Why are you doing this? Why are you so determined to keep me away from Newt?”

Thomas turns his face away, his jaw clenched.

“Why are you lying to me?” You take a step closer to Thomas and lower your voice; softer. “What happened?”

Thomas shakes his head and then stares back down at you, his eyes filled with anger. The same anger you’ve constantly seen again and again, the same anger you so desperately wished would go away. “Because he never forgave me! Okay? I told him over and over that I was sorry, that we were sorry! But then he started panicking and he started- Thomas makes hand gestures, “Going crazy! He started rambling and it scared me! I thought I almost killed him when I found him, all curled up while shivering and muttering to himself, and at that moment I realised that he would never ever be the same again and it was my fault! It’s my fault he can’t even think about what happened for two seconds before having one of those fits! It’s my fault that we can’t be friends anymore! It’s my fault that he’s messed up for life because of one selfish decision I made!” Thomas' eyes fill with hurt, tears run down his cheeks as he covers his face with his hands. "I've never been able to forgive myself..."

“Thomas…”

Minho has gone back to taking a seat, obviously feeling very guilty. Gally looks between both Minho and Thomas, not awkwardly but… sadly, he shifts his feet uncomfortably as he realises your stare. You look away.

“Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?” You feel like you should have been the one to have said it, but those words did not come from your mouth. Instead they came from someone else. You turn around, although you knew who the voice belonged to, and stare at an awkwardly held Newt.

“Newt?”


	7. The Healing

“Newt?” You question, “What are you doing here?”

Newt’s face flushes and he stumbles over his words. “I –uh, you left without saying goodbye.”

“That would be my fault,” Thomas cuts in before you can say anything, “I needed to… Well, you did hear it I suppose.”

Newt closes the door behind him and hesitates slightly before turning around, concentrated creases in his hard thinking-face appear. You decide that he must be trying to choose his words carefully, maybe this is his only opportunity to let the healing begin. “I knew you were sorry Thomas but I – I felt like I had some sort of control if I hadn’t forgiven you.” Newt’s fingers find the edges of his jacket cuffs to tug nervously at, “That I was the one with the power instead of being this weak little boy, still stuck in that damned silo.” Newt shakes his head, “But I’ve realised something… that maybe if I forgive you these nightmares, these episodes, maybe they will leave too.”

Thomas shakes his head, “I don’t expect you to forgive us just like that, after everything we’ve… I’ve put you through…”

“I’m not forgiving you just for you,” Newt says firmly, “This is for myself as well. So I can move on from this mess, finally.”

Thomas looks to his feet and moves his head in a nodding manner, “Thank you, Newt.”

Gally shifts uncomfortably again, the side of his cheek in his teeth. “I –I’m sorry too, you know, for, yeah.” Gally awkwardly shuffles to the front door but before he can leave, Newt shoots out an arm to stop him from exiting the house.

“Now that we’re altogether, I suggest we do something.”

“What do you mean?” You ask, although you’re almost one hundred percent sure that you know what he’s going to suggest everyone to do next.

“Something to celebrate our reunion.” Newt grins evilly before continuing, “I believe, Thomas, that you already have the skills needed although as you can probably tell, Y/N has definitely improved since my teachings.”

“Oh knock it off.” You reply, shaking your head with a faint grin on your lips

Thomas looks from you to Newt, mildly confused. And then, as if a globe sparks on above his head, “Wait a second… that was… that was you?”

“That was me alright, I planned that one for a good month or so.” Newt says proudly, "Lucky you were drunk and I had Y/N to save the day.”

“You… crash parties?”

“Oh for the- Gally can’t help but face palm, “You’re kidding right?” He looks from Thomas to Newt, to you and then even to Minho who’s seemed to have been quiet and reserved this whole time. “Oh, you cannot be serious.”

“Mind if I come along?” Alby says through a now open door, his grin a tad crooked from nerves.

“Of course, the more the better.” Newt says enthusiastically as he grabs a pen and stack of papers from your Dad’s office, “We are going to plan the  _best_  party crashing plan –ever.”

You sigh, of course it comes back to this. It always does in the end. “What needs to be done?” You ask, as you’ve never planned one with Newt before. Thomas' house was all pre-planned, you just had to take it all in. Which you didn't since half the time you were staring at his face. But it seems like a long process... Although you have suspicions that it won’t take as long with this many hands to help.

“I need someone to search Facebook and find a party to crash.” Newt says while frantically grabbing things from shelves. “And also –hey! Gally! It’s too late mate, you’re too far in to be leaving now.” You turn to see Gally attempting his not-so-stealthy escape through the front door.

“But I…” Gally drops his head, “Alright fine. What can I do?”

“Log onto your Facebook.”

“I thought Minho was doing that?”

“I need two of you, we need to find one fast.” Newt chucks him a phone and reaches into Alby’s back-jean-pocket, slipping out the car keys. “Y/N, I’m going to need your help.” He opens the front door and races down the front of the house, then into the car.

You slide into the front seat beside him and immediately pull up your hoodie as chills rise over the back of your neck, “What are we doing?”

“We are going to get food, can’t have raging teenage boys work without fuel.”

“True.”

Once you reach the first stop, you both jump out of the vehicle and into the grocery store. Newt takes your hand into his and slips a shopping list into it, you could say you’re disappointed. “I need you to grab all these things as fast as possible, okay? I’ll be over in the snack-aisles to grab the unhealthy stuff.”

“What is this?” You ask suspiciously, eyeing the grocery list down. You can’t make out what dish these ingredients would make.

“Chicken curry.” He says straight-forwardly while pushing you towards the aisles on your list.

“You know how to make curry?” You ask curiously, almost baffled that he can do something other than crashing someone else’s party.

“Nope, but you can.”

You raise an eyebrow and turn to face Newt, ready to disagree and argue with him since last time you tried to cook you ended up buying takeout. But he’s no longer behind you so instead you swallow your annoyance and pick up all the ingredients needed.

* * *

After placing the final shopping bag into the boot, you hop into the front seat again. “Everyone’s gone to Alby’s place since… well I’m sure your mother doesn’t want a gaggle of teenage boys in her house. Besides, it’s a closer drive back. And Alby called to say he’s at work and won’t be back until after dinner.”

You chuckle and can’t help find all of Newt’s enthusiasm to be amusing and sort of cute. You sit in silence for a while until some weird alternative-rock song makes its way onto the radio and you turn it down, even though Newt whines in return.

A few red lights later, you spark up a conversation. A needed one at that. “Newt…” You start, keeping your eyes on the road in front of you. “You’re okay with all of this, right?”

“Hm?” He asks, his grip tightening over the wheel.

“You’re okay with Thomas and Minho being around, right? Are you doing this because you want to or you feel like you have to?”

You watch as his eyes flicker across the road, from green lights, to red lights, to give-way signs, to stop signs. You notice his hardened jaw and tightly gripped fingers. At this moment, you realise you want him to say something; almost desperately. But all that is between you is silence, an unnerving silence that wraps itself around your mind making you think all kinds of worrisome thoughts.

“Both.” His voice breaks the silence, his reply echoing in your mind. You know he doesn’t want to be seen as weak but that’s the thing, he isn’t weak. He is strong, but he doesn’t realise that yet and for some reason you feel like it’s up to you to help him.

“If you need a break we can literally just give them random jobs and go do something ourselves if needed.” You suggest, hoping that it will make him feel less lonely.

He turns to you and flashes a quick smile, “That’s pretty much what I’m doing right now.”

* * *

By the time both you and Newt go back to Alby’s, you see the party-crashing team working at its hardest. You glance over at Newt before he closes the front door behind him, you see a sort of happiness in his eyes.

You take the grocery shopping into the kitchen with everyone else following behind you like lost puppies, their eyes on your food. You drop the bags and turn to face them, Newt only looks amused. “You’re all like a bunch of kids.” You sigh.

Gally reaches for a packet of lollies and you whack his hand away, “Not until after you’ve had dinner,” You almost snap. You already feel like a Mom, it’s almost ridiculous.

“Alright lads, let’s leave the woman to her cooking.” Newt declares, ushering each of the boys out of the room. Newt gives you an assuring smile and says, “I’ll be back to help in about five minutes, I’ll just get them working again.”

You nod and watch as Newt leaves the room before smiling to yourself, it’s almost like you and Newt are parenting Minho, Gally and Thomas. It’s sort of fun in a way, you guess.

You look down at the contents of the groceries and groan inwardly, you’ve never cooked curry before. Heck, the only thing you’ve cooked before was that pasta bake and that didn’t turn out well at all!

“Alright, Master Chef, what needs to be done?” Newt asks as he re-enters the kitchen in a sort of fluster, tugging at the ends of his shirt.

You give him the best sarcastic, ‘you’re kidding me’ face before going on to say, “I have no idea what I’m doing, you do realise?”

“Oh come on, like I said, you’re Master Chef! You’ll figure it out!” Newt says with over-enthusiasm before taking the contents out of their shopping bags.

You sigh again and place the foods out in a line, staring them down. Your fingers hover over one group, then move onto the next as you try to figure out what to start with. “This is ridiculous Newt.”

He chuckles and passes you the starting ingredient, “There’s a nudge in the right direction.” You almost glare at his smugly-smiling but incredibly cute looking face.

“I can’t believe you,” You say, grabbing the ingredients. “You said you didn’t know how to cook! A secret party-crasher  _and_ professional chef!”

He shrugs his shoulders, “What can I say, I guess I’m just an all ‘round amazing, talented, and good-looking, guy.”

“Yeah-yeah.” You shake your head and mix the ingredients together, Newt informing you every few minutes on what to do next. It’s sort of nice, really, to be taught to cook.

“Remember not to use the meat-knife on the vegetables too.” Newt says before hanging by the doorway, “I’ll just go see how the other guys are doing, all you need to do now is chuck the chopped veggies in and let it simmer for a while.” He exits the room and you immediately chop said vegetables, pop them into the sauce and put the lid on so it simmers.

Five minutes later, someone enters the kitchen and only until they speak do you lift your head from looking down at your mobile phone. “Hey, Y/N, do you have a minute?”

You look up and your eyes are greeted with Minho’s. “Of course.”

He drops his gaze in hesitation before giving you eye contact once more, “I just wanted to apologise.”

You slide your phone into your pocket, “Apologise for what?” Your voice almost drowned in curiosity.

“Just for everything… I mean, I  _was_  there beside Thomas too. At the silo, at Newt’s apartment… at your house. I just –Thomas got to say his apologies and it feels wrong to just not own up to all I’ve done to you and Newt too. So, I’m sorry.” He holds his gaze with a nervous lip-bite.

“Minho, it’s okay. Honestly. I’m just glad we’re all… hanging out. That we’re altogether without any malicious intentions anymore.” You walk around the steel table until you’re directly face-to-face, “Did you apologise to Newt too?”

Minho bites the inside of his cheek, “Not quite yet… I’m working up to it.”

You give him a reassuring smile, “It’ll be okay. I know it feels scary because you’re admitting that what you did was bad, and you don’t want to be seen as a bad person. But you’re not, Minho, you’re not a bad person. We all make mistakes, it’s how we learn.”

Minho smiles thankfully and nods before leaving the room just as Newt enters.

“How’s the curry?”

You lift the lid and then turn back to Newt, “So far so good.”

“See? You  _can_  cook.” He smiles proudly and before long, you both serve up the curry and dish it out to each party-crasher.

You stare down at the curry, the sauce and meat looks good, and so does the rice, but will it taste good? Your eyes flicker over to each person, just as they take a bite. By this point your heart thumps in your chest, what if you’ve accidentally food-poisoned them or something?

Thomas looks over at you in surprise, “This actually tastes… really bad.”

Your eyebrows crease into a frown, “What!?”

Newt scrunches up his eyebrows too, “Let me taste it –oh it really is bad. What did you do to it?”

“I –I did everything you told me to!” You almost shout before scooping up a mouthful and shoving into your mouth. Your taste-buds explode with delight and you glare over at Thomas and Newt, still with food in your mouth, “You’re a bunch of liars, you are.”

Thomas and Newt both grin back at you gleefully before practically inhaling the rest of their meal. Once everyone finishes, Newt, Minho and Thomas proceed to set up a “movie theater” while you and Gally wash up.

“Thank you for the food, by the way…” He mumbles quietly while drying the last dish, “Especially since I was sort of a prick to you.”

You unplug the drain and look smugly over at him, “Is that an apology?”

Gally coughs as the colour red flushes through his pale cheeks, “Y-yes, I guess it sort of is. Yeah –it is. I’m sorry.”

You dry your hands and smile up at him which only causes him to blush harder, “It’s okay, honestly. But thank you for the apology.”

His lips curl up into a small smile and you both leave the kitchen with a surprise from the other boys. Pillows and blankets are strewn all over the floor but not quite messily just… comfortably. “We got dessert coming too!” Newt shouts.

“Where? Who? What?” You ask, confused but also excited to be eating some dessert.

“Alby, he’s coming back from work. He offered to grab a cheesecake on the way as long as he gets to have some curry.” Newt smiles.

The doorbell sounds and in comes Alby with his cheesecake. You microwave some curry for him in exchange for some cake and quickly settle down beside Newt in his own little nest of blankets and pillows. Soon, the random movie starts and before demolishing your cake you whisper, “You all good?”

As soon as Newt hears you whisper he slides his hand into yours, his thumb tracing circles affectionately. “Never been better.”


	8. Cheesecake War

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! Hope you all enjoy this chapter :)

You wake up to sunlight, pouring into the room through the cracks of the blinds. All around you there are pillows and blankets from last night. Your head raises up and then down steadily, and you realise that you’re using Newt’s chest as a head rest. You start to lift your head up but Newt’s voice huskily whispers, “Don’t get up, I like cuddling with you.”

“You’re so lame.” You say, but in your head you almost squeal with excitement. Thankfully though, you manage to keep your cheeks from blushing bright red. His arm drapes over your side and he sighs.

“Yes, well, I guess I must be lame with all these amazing talents I have.” He laughs quietly, you feel his laugh against your cheek.

“Oh sh.”

A silence fills the room again and you listen to all the other breathing from across the room. You wish you could stay like this, in this moment. It’ll be one of the best memories you have, you just know it.

“Y/N?” Newt asks softly.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

You tilt your head so you’re somewhat looking up at him, “For what?”

His hand holds the back of your neck, his nose almost touches yours. “For everything…” His lips move smoothly, soft and gentle. “I would still be stuck in anger, and sorrow for myself if it weren’t for you.”

“Newt…”

“Rise and shine my lovelies!” Alby strips the windows bare from their covering, blasting you with a horrendous, blinding sunlight.

You and Newt both groan in pain as your eyes blink continuously, trying to get used to the new tone of light that fills the room. “Come on dirt-bags, get up - get out!”

“Get out?” A sleepy Gally questions, rubbing his eyes as they adjust to the morning sun. “What the hell are you on about?”

“We’re going for a run!” Alby shouts, over enthusiastically. Surprisingly though, Minho and Thomas immediately stumble out of bed, eager to get some exercise in.

Newt shimmies out of the blanket cocoon and then awkwardly shuffles his feet until he grabs your hand and pulls you over to the side of pumped up boys, leaving Gally on the opposite side with a grumpy frown on his face. You’re hesitant to go for a run as you’re not incredibly fit, and you just know your running technique is embarrassing. You cringe every time you have to run as it reminds you of a flailing flamingo.

But Newt decided he wants to go, and maybe if you lag behind, no one will see you struggling… although as soon as you get a rush of competitiveness, all those worrisome thoughts instantly leave your head.

“C’mon Gally, we’re all going. Besides, I might let you have another piece of that cheesecake if you come with us.” Alby smirks, knowing that Gally will only comply if he gets a reward at the end. Although you find it slightly unfair as you came half-volunteering and half-forced, and you still don’t get offered a slice of cheesecake.

Once you’re all out of Alby’s house, he instantly takes the lead although you haven’t even started running. “First three –minus Gally –to get to the end of Suffix Street and back, wins the other slices of cheesecake.”

At the mention of cake, you’re all off. Slapping your feet against the hard, concrete surface of the sidewalk. As you run, people’s yards come into view. But instead of observing their yapping dogs or watching out for cars backing out of the driveway, you continue speeding down the footpath with only one thing on your mind; cake.

You spot Minho and Thomas level with each other, only a meter or half in front of you. So far it’s safe to say that you’re coming third. A slice of cake is heading your way! You spot the sign of Suffix and sprint around the corner, heart pumping, and blood rushing; panting hard. Suddenly, Newt comes out from the back of your mind, pushing its way to the front. His limp… he must have only jogged for a bit. And you left him stranded! Guilt immediately floods your mind and you wonder if you should go back for him. You completely lose your focus.

But that thought immediately vanishes from your mind as Alby comes along side you, pushing his feet hard and fast. Suddenly he pushes even further, until he’s only just in front of you. As the end of Suffix comes into view, you get ready to spin yourself around, careful not to collide with anyone in front of you. The end comes and all four of you slap the bricked wall of a public bathroom before whipping around to run back the way you came. Both you and Alby are now level with Thomas and Minho; four people. Only one of you would miss out, and you weren’t going to let it be you.

As you come down Alby’s street, nearing the end, you spot two people sitting on the pathway. You don’t recognise them until you’re about 100 meters or so away, it’s Gally and Newt. You start to wonder if Gally stayed back with Newt to be nice, but then it quickly diminishes as Alby screams, “You shuck-faces!”

You take another quick glance and realise that both Newt and Gally are scoffing the cheesecake, and from the looks of things, you aren’t going to get a piece. You and the three other boys scream at them as you all come charging down the pathway, fright clear in both Gally and Newt’s pairs of eyes.

You and Alby take on Newt while Minho and Thomas take on Gally. Alby pulls Newt’s arms behind his back, cake smeared all over his lips and chin. You pinch Newt’s cheeks and with a very grumpy look call him a, “Selfish bum-hole.” But before you leave him you take a swipe of cheesecake from his face and eat it, still glaring at his overly-amused face the whole time.

“Aw, aren’t you going to lick it off my face, like the scavenger you are?” Newt challenges, just before you turn your back.

You smile innocently and sweetly, “No, but maybe Alby will.” And for a second you swear you see the most horrified look in all of history.

* * *

“Alright lads, I know I –we shouldn’t have eaten the cheesecake. But now, after being quite molested by all of you, I have taken around five showers and am ready to proceed on with the planning. Which, mind you, has to be finished before the party tonight.” Newt says as he comes out from the bathroom, a chorus of laughter sounding from the crowd.

“What is left to be done?” Minho asks, yawning slightly.

“Well, we have the pranks and stuff in mind, we just need to draw up the map and decide where each will happen, who will make it happen and when. Meanwhile, Y/N and I will go out and buy the supplies needed. Questions?”

Gally smirks, “Is “buying supplies” code for a make out session with Y/N?” The boys chuckle in response, Newt only looks amused.

“It’s okay Gally, I know you’re only trying to humiliate us because you secretly want to join in.”

“Oh shut up.” Gally says, slightly annoyed as the other boys cheer or yell “burn” loudly into Gally’s face.

Newt Grins as he opens the front door, his arm gesturing for you to exit first. You leave the house and head towards the car, quickly sliding into the front seat. “So, Newt,” you start, fiddling with the radio stations again. “What’s the plan?”

“I’ll tell you the pranks once we get back so everyone can hear at once.” Newt’s eyes relax but his jaw clenches. You start to worry that maybe all this interaction with everyone is starting to get a bit too much. But bringing it up will only make it worse. So for now, you decide to leave it.

After wandering into the store behind Newt, he doesn’t give you a separate grocery list like last time. Instead he beckons you to follow him and you watch as he grabs these ingredients: duck-tape and Nutella from the general store and then a very well conveniently (which he must visit all the time) placed trickster-store (itching powder) and last but not least, a few different materials from a second-hand store. You muse over the seen items he purchased and wonder what the heck he’s up to this time. You can’t see in any way how all those are connected, or if they are connected at all. It’s possible that they could be separate pranks, but how? Curiosity takes over but instead you bite your tongue and remind yourself that Newt won’t say a word until we’re all together again.

Suddenly, your stomach rumbles loudly and you almost laugh over it. “Let’s go get some Burger King or something.” You suggest as you re-enter the dim, dusty car. He doesn’t answer back so you instead suggest another place, “How about Dumpling Palace?” More silence, is he ignoring you for a reason? “Asian food not your thing?” You meant to sound humorous but instead your voice is laced with worry and concern. Is Newt okay?

And in the next minute, as you watch Newt’s slightly concerned but pale face, his shoulders slump and his head drops. His eyes flutter closed and you shout out his name, your own voice ringing in your ears.

“Newt!?”


	9. Crashing The Party

“Wait –what?” Thomas asks worriedly over the phone, you hear the voices of the other guys in the background too.

“I’m…” You breathe heavily, the phone pressed against your ear suddenly becomes quiet while the blood rushes to your ears and your chest. Everything in your body thumps as you recall the overbearing feeling of panic and guilt as you watched Newt’s body slump into a heap, his pale face resting on the driver’s wheel.

“Y/N.”

His curled fingers white and limp against his chest, the driver’s door wide open, a breeze slinking in, ruffling the short blond curls of his slight bed-hair. The way he looked so silent and lifeless… Was it your fault? Had he overworked himself? The stress and anxiety of being around those who were the source of his loud, uncontrollable mind, constantly torturing himself over and over again?

“Y/N!?”

Suddenly you’re back, back in the waiting room at the hospital. Your fingers curl tightly around the mobile device which holds the voice calling your name. Your breathing slows again, your muscles’ tension releases. “I’m alright.”

“No you’re not.” He sighs, “I’m on my way.”

“No, Thomas…” You sigh and walk over to one of the waiting room’s chairs, “You don’t need to, Alby is here also and… look everything is fine. Newt is okay, he just passed out.”

“He just passed out?”

“Yeah he… he was fine –well he was sort of distant but I just thought he was tired. And then we got back into the car and he fainted. I was so scared Tom.”

“You guys were in the car!?” Thomas almost shouts through the phone, shock elevating his voice. “What if he passed out while driving? You… you both could be dead.”

“Thomas, don’t. Don’t you dare bring up the ‘could-haves’. Yes, it was possible but it didn’t happen and you can’t blame this sort of thing on Newt, it’s not his fault he fainted Thomas!”

“I’m just looking out for you.”

“Thomas, no. I don’t need to be looked out for. Newt does.” You take the phone away from your ear and end the call before slipping it back into your coat pocket. “Please be okay Newt…”

“You can come in to see him now, he’s awake.” A nurse informs you, her blonde hair messily tied back to match her worn and tired face. You mutter a thank you before she leads you to Newt’s room. The nurse leaves as soon as you enter.

His eyes are dull, his smile is weak and his breathing is slow and steady. You can’t help but break down into tears right in front of him.

“Y/N?” He asks worriedly, preparing himself to leave his bed.

You walk over to him instead, tears blurring your eyes, and grab a hold of his hands before sitting onto his bed. “You –you fainted right in front of me and I thought… I thought so many bad things Newt-

“Aw baby, no, don’t cry…” He pulls you close to his chest as you start to sob. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you love…”

“It’s –it’s not your fault… I just thought…”

“It’s okay… I know. But I’m here, I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re fine.” Newt shuffles his body over slightly and pulls the blankets around you as you curl up tighter next to him. His arm loosely wraps itself around you while his other hand twirls the ends of your hair. After a while of silence, the tears dry and Newt asks, “Who were you talking to on the phone?”

“Thomas.”

“What happened?” It’s as if he can sense it in your voice or something.

“He was sort of angry or… panicked I guess –a bit of both when I told him what happened.”

“Because I could have been driving.”

You nod your head, “Yeah… but he doesn’t mean to be a prick I suppose. He’s just thinking bad thoughts –like-

“He’s right though. I could have completely lost control of the car and you’d be seriously injured, you could have died, Y/N.”

“Newt-

“Hey guys…” Alby walks in with a frantic looking group of boys. They immediately rush to the sides of the hospital bed. “Sorry I took so long to get in here. You alright man?”

“Yeah… yeah I’m good.”

“Do you know why it happened?” A suspicious Thomas asks, although surprisingly enough, shows no hate in his eyes. Just concern.

“Uh, well yeah. An overload of panic and stress apparently.” Newt answers quietly with a slight hesitation. You feel him growing tense and that same distant feeling becomes alive again between the two of you.

You look to Alby, his eyes find yours immediately and being the awesome friend he is, he already knows what you are trying to communicate to him through this one look.

“Does that mean we can’t go party-crashing tonight?” Minho asks, Gally nodding his head along.

Newt’s eyes light up immediately, “No, we’re still going. I’m still going.”

“Newt…” Both you and Alby say at the same time.

“You guys will just have to be extra prepared and trained as I will only be observing…”

You laugh and so does everyone else before Alby exits the room with his group of puppies following behind, wagging their tails excitedly for tonight. “You think you’re up to it?”

“Yeah, of course I am love. I’m a professional.”

“Honestly?” You raise an eyebrow, a definite tone of seriousness plastered on your face.

Newt blinks as he studies your tone of voice and facial expression, it seems like forever before he replies. He brings a thumb to your cheekbone and gently strokes it before staring back into your eyes with those magnificent brown ones. “Honestly, I will be fine. The nurse says I can leave when I’m ready. I just fainted. I will be okay. I promise.”

“We’re only watching them, no running around like maniacs.”

“Alright, alright.” Newt laughs, “Whatever you say your majesty.” He wiggles closer to you, you lean your head onto his chest. “But we’re still climbing through a window.”

You sigh and smile, “We’re still climbing through a window.”

* * *

“Oh-em-gee, I am so nervous. Are you nervous? Because I am totally freaking out right now-

“Gally, if you don’t mind, please slim it.” Thomas says quietly before leading us around the side of the house. We quickly and quietly slide through the gate, and immediately hear the beat of the thumping music. “This way.”

You lead the group of hooligans up the side of the house with ease before reaching an available bedroom to climb into. The window is locked but Newt helps with the lock-picking and soon you all roll in, one after the other.

You all quickly scope out the house casually, as if you’re totally apart of this mostly drunken crowd. Then the plan comes into movement as they spot their very first victims. Minho, Thomas and Gally all chose their drunks and pull out a roll of duck-tape. After dancing alongside them they start winding their tape around them. In seconds, the dancers are wrapped up, shoulders to ankles in the silver, sticky tape.

Newt smiles, “First off: tape the drunkies and watch them spin!”

“I feel like we should totally be feeling ashamed of ourselves right now.” You laugh and watch Newt’s face light up in delight as the dancing drunks continue to dance whilst duck-taped, therefore spinning and falling all over the place.

“Oh no, this is totally harmless. Besides, we will un-tape them before we leave.”

The sight is like none other, they’re like silver caterpillars wriggling around helplessly while laughing hysterically at the same time.

“Next we have… Ants in your pants.”

You look over at Newt, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Okay, slight alteration to the ‘ants’… we have itching powder.”

You groan and then laugh. Both you and Newt watch the event play out, thus leading into many people ditching their pants. After the Nutella being spread everywhere in the bathroom, and the ‘pin the tail on the drunks’ you two finally get to do a little dancing as the music tones down to a very slow and rhythmic path.

You realise that slow dancing is your favourite thing ever as Newt has his arms wrapped around you, yours draped over him and with each step you make you become even closer, even more connected. Newt sighs, “Too bad we’re not all dressed up.”

You laugh as you realise your dank hoodies and jeans, “Oh well, maybe next time.” You lean your forehead onto his shoulder, “Although, the reason I started party-crashing was because I hated events like these.”

“That’s because you have no friends.”

You glare up at him, “Don’t be such a moron.”

“Born that way darling.” He does a sassy click movement with his fingers before resuming back to dancing.

“You’re so annoying.”

“Love you too.” He smiles, your faces becoming incredibly close. Suddenly your heart thumps in your chest and you look away from his eyes in an embarrassed flush. You hate how your cheeks grow so red, but you can’t help feeling a little bit excited. His hand presses against the back of your head, your eyes can’t look away from his at this point.

Suddenly the music changes in a flash, the beat grows incredibly faster and full of bass. Newt and you jump in surprise as the music blares and Minho, Thomas and Gally jump into the room; head banging and all. You laugh it off and start jumping around with them while Newt does some sort of “cool” robotic moves to the beat.

Newt notices the looks you give him, “Like my moves?” With an added wink.

“Yeah no, I think you should just stick to party-crashing.”

* * *

Minho, Gally and Thomas jump from inside the van and go on ahead to Thomas’ home as you all decided to crash at his tonight rather than bugging Alby again. Newt and you walk side-by-side along the footpath up to his house.

“How are things at home?”

You laugh, “Haven’t exactly been home in a while… But it will be alright, I’m used to our family stuff.”

Newt smiles, his hand wraps around yours. “Well if you ever need to crash somewhere else for a bit, I welcome you with open arms.”

“Thanks man.”

You both arrive at the front of the house, “You’re so polite with me. Stop, it makes me feel awkward.”

You raise an eyebrow, “Shut up.”

Newt sighs and grabs ahold of your other hand, “That’s cute.”

“Fight me.” You attempt to stand taller than him with a menacing look in your eyes, at which both fails miserably.

“That’s even cuter.”

“Well, I am cute I suppose.”

“Don’t get bigheaded now…” He laughs, leaning in close.

“You’re the bigheaded one…” You sigh, taking in his sharp facial features, messy hair and chocolate brown eyes.

“Just shut up and kiss me already.”

“My pleasure.” You whisper before both your lips become connected. His kiss is like what you imagined, sweet and gentle. Fingers still clutched around yours.

You break away immediately as you hear the other boys shouting “Ooh la, la!”

“Shut up.” You both say with a slight smile tugging at your lips.

* * *

You both curl up together that night, everything feels right for once. You know there will be more problems and trials to come, but for once you can just rest feeling content with what you have now. Most of all, you’re so glad you went party-crashing the night you met Newt, even though you were all by yourself.

“Newt?”

“Yes, love?” He says sleepily.

“Your party-crashing skills are mad –great in fact.”

“Why thank you, my dear.”

“But-

“But?”

“I’m still the  _only_  professional party-crasher, in this town.”

“Oh slim it.” He laughs and whacks your head with a pillow. “You know what? I think we’ve got a name for our company.”

“ _Our_  company? Last time I checked, it was  _my_ company.”

“Well I’ve decided that we shall join forces.” He chuckles and then whispers, “Anyway.”

“Anyway…”

“From now on, we shall be referred as The Gladers.”

You sigh and settle down into a comfortable position, wrapped up in his arms. “The Gladers it is.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this series, unfortunately this is the last chapter :( But I am working on another short series for The Maze Runner!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter, please feel free to comment what you think -even if it is critical.


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